Final Fantasy XIII and versusXIII - new info

The_D_Man · 10-02-2010 8:04pm

Is it just me or have Squareenix not made a good final fantasy yet? FF10 was the last good one and that was the last game by squaresoft. I just hope FF13 will break this cycle.

Retr0gamer · 10-02-2010 8:11pm

Front Mission 5 was the last game they made that I enjoyed and wasn't a remake or rerelease.

The_D_Man · 10-02-2010 8:51pm

I suppose Crisis Core wasnt bad, hardly a classic though.

johnny_ultimate · 10-02-2010 11:07pm

The_D_Man wrote: »

Is it just me or have Squareenix not made a good final fantasy yet? FF10 was the last good one and that was the last game by squaresoft. I just hope FF13 will break this cycle.

The only really good thing they've done in recent years is distribute good Atlus, Eidos and Nippon Ichi games - I'm sure there's a cynical observation in that statement somewhere.

Retr0gamer · 11-02-2010 2:02pm

From reading those destructoid articles I've a feeling that I'm going to absolutely love this game and they seem to agree with me that there's going to be a lot of cynical write ups about the game.

Bioware seem to be advancing RPG's a lot more than this game and FFXII moved the battle system into real time. But the fact remains that there is still nothing wrong with linear or turn based games. All that matters is that they can be fun. It's the same kind of narrow minded view that makes fantastic games like Gradius V and Contra Shattered Soldier average scores like 7 or 8's our of 10. I remember only a few publications gave Castlevania Symphony of the Night a 9/10 or over because it wasn't 3D and seen as a hangover of the 16 bit era. It's only now rightly hailed as a classic. I think FFXIII is just going to be like Suikoden 2 except far more severe. Suikoden 2 didn't have the flash or 3D of the big squaresoft RPGs at the time and didn't review as well as FF8 which it was released along side. It's now regarded as one of the pinnacles of RPGs on the PS1 far ahead of the FF series.

johnny_ultimate · 11-02-2010 3:16pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Bioware seem to be advancing RPG's a lot more than this game and FFXII moved the battle system into real time. But the fact remains that there is still nothing wrong with linear or turn based games. All that matters is that they can be fun. It's the same kind of narrow minded view that makes fantastic games like Gradius V and Contra Shattered Soldier average scores like 7 or 8's our of 10. I remember only a few publications gave Castlevania Symphony of the Night a 9/10 or over because it wasn't 3D and seen as a hangover of the 16 bit era. It's only now rightly hailed as a classic. I think FFXIII is just going to be like Suikoden 2 except far more severe. Suikoden 2 didn't have the flash or 3D of the big squaresoft RPGs at the time and didn't review as well as FF8 which it was released along side. It's now regarded as one of the pinnacles of RPGs on the PS1 far ahead of the FF series.

I somewhat agree with you, but I think there are still some weakpoints to the traditional JRPG approach. Storytelling can sometimes be overblown and po-faced and forced (Bioware with Mass Effect 2 are beginning to win me over to their more natural, player driven narratives). Fantasy worlds are often generic and dull. That said, I personally love the old fashioned JRPG, but I think as a genre it does have problems. Probably why I love the Megaten games, as the setting and contemporary concerns feel refreshing. But with strictly old school games, I can kind of see how some reviewers would be disillusioned. There is a market for tradition, but alas outside of Japan its a small one.

Retr0gamer · 11-02-2010 3:30pm

I think the storytelling thing is really only a problem with Square Enix titles. All the characters in their recent games seem to have stumbled out of Kingdom Hearts. Atlus have shown that JRPG stories don't have to pander to the Shibuya teen crowd that SE are always going for. Other developers like the guys behind Etrian Odyssey are just keeping the story at the back and concentrating on making the battle mechanics the primary focus.

I really can see Square Enix losing an awful lot of consumer base. It used to be that I'd pick up anything by Square Enix because the name was mostly a mark of quality. Now they are pumping out sub par products that I no longer have any interest in and also pumping out a heap of them, way too many. They really need to just focus on big projects and space them out. The normally niche Atlus is after gaining a huge amount of standing in the absence of any quality from Square.

joe123 · 17-02-2010 3:06pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

From reading those destructoid articles I've a feeling that I'm going to absolutely love this game and they seem to agree with me that there's going to be a lot of cynical write ups about the game.

Bioware seem to be advancing RPG's a lot more than this game and FFXII moved the battle system into real time. But the fact remains that there is still nothing wrong with linear or turn based games. All that matters is that they can be fun. It's the same kind of narrow minded view that makes fantastic games like Gradius V and Contra Shattered Soldier average scores like 7 or 8's our of 10. I remember only a few publications gave Castlevania Symphony of the Night a 9/10 or over because it wasn't 3D and seen as a hangover of the 16 bit era. It's only now rightly hailed as a classic. I think FFXIII is just going to be like Suikoden 2 except far more severe. Suikoden 2 didn't have the flash or 3D of the big squaresoft RPGs at the time and didn't review as well as FF8 which it was released along side. It's now regarded as one of the pinnacles of RPGs on the PS1 far ahead of the FF series.

Out of curiosity have you played mass effect 2? That game is NOT an rpg. Great game but its VERY linear. Hardly any weapons, basically no levelling up. Its a great game but its not an rpg.

Thats why I was so looking forward to FF13. The thought of levelling up, having a huge world to explore, go to different towns and cities, go out levelling up to become really powerful, go search out legendary weapons etc etc....FF13 has NONE of this.

Really disapointed by all the reviews coming in and I have a feeling they could get worse.

The moment I heard how there are no cities/towns/shops and the game is on rails I was disapointed and all these reviews basically saying the same thing is even more disheartning. Cutscenes are nice but thats not what made Final Fantasy games great

From reading your posts its like your trying to convince yourself that this will be a great game.

Retr0gamer · 17-02-2010 3:26pm

I'd actually love if it was a crap game, I've too many games to buy and not enough money

I've heard the game opens up as well but it's very near the end when you get to wander around a massive area. I just think the reviewers really have FF13 the wrong way and the fact that Jeremy Parish is saying the same thing, that the game is great but expects a lot of publications to slate, does more to convince me than any other review.

joe123 · 17-02-2010 9:36pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd actually love if it was a crap game, I've too many games to buy and not enough money I've heard the game opens up as well but it's very near the end when you get to wander around a massive area. I just think the reviewers really have FF13 the wrong way and the fact that Jeremy Parish is saying the same thing, that the game is great but expects a lot of publications to slate, does more to convince me than any other review.

I really want it to be great. I loved FF9 (one of my favourite games ever). I really liked 10 and I loved 12 aswell even though the story was pretty ****e in it.

Whos Jeremy Parish?

noodler · 17-02-2010 10:13pm

joe123 wrote: »

Whos Jeremy Parish?

Just someone Retr0 agrees with more often than not.

Retr0gamer · 17-02-2010 10:59pm

He works for 1up writing reviews and writes on their RPG blog and Retronauts blog from time to time.

I don't agree with him all the time. He does like Halo :P

carbonkid · 18-02-2010 12:23am

One of the more interesting thinks he said - "From what I can tell, the main difference between FFXIII and, say, Bayonetta comes down simply to the fact that FFXIII's battles play out with menus, and you have a larger inventory."

It does sound scarcely the idea of FF almost not been an rpg...same time im looking forward to a whole new experience!

landsleaving · 21-02-2010 11:56pm

Seriously thinking of cancelling the preorder on this after reading up on it. I love world maps and shops and such and this sounds like X, which is my least favourite Final Fantasy.

I miss active time battles

People seem to slag them off but if they were so bad why did people enjoy the games that used them so much??? They were great for tactics, knowing when to attack/heal/use magic etc. were a fantastic part of the experience of the game alongside the story, as was proper levelling up.

This is turning into a rant really and I didn't mean it to :rolleyes:. I'd love this game to be great but I'm gonna be pretty let down if I buy it at launch and it's not worth it. The FF stories have gotten weaker and if that's the only hook it could be plain awful. Run from point a to point b, have meaningless battles in the middle which have no purpose anymore, then see cut scene that I don't care about.

But is it worth paying full launch price to find out? - Answers on a postcard...

noodler · 22-02-2010 12:01am

After reading PSM3's review in full I am pretty downbeat about it.

Added to the annoying linearity is the fact that characters, outside of lightning, are boring cliched stereotypes.

"game feels bloated and repeititve - too much movie, not enough game"

Sometimes you have to remember that 70% is NOT a bad score though. If I can get it for 40e or 45e tops during the first few weeks of release then I will give it a go.

Retr0gamer · 22-02-2010 12:54am

PSM3 are a pretty poor magazine, I wouldn't trust them myself.

As for ATB I think it's great that it's gone. People enjoyed it because they knew no better and there were much better battle systems out them.

1ups review should be up soon, it will be the one I trust.

noodler · 22-02-2010 1:45am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

PSM3 are a pretty poor magazine, I wouldn't trust them myself.

Heh. Have you ever read it?

It is actually anything but "pretty poor".

noodler · 22-02-2010 1:58am

Just read 1up's 10 year retrospective in FF8:

1UP wrote: »

I found the game's gleefully-broken character-building mechanics to be the most enjoyable part of the experience

1UP wrote: »

Example: We're all having the same eerily-realistic dreams about the not-too-distant past? Eh, best not to talk about it until the dramatic truth can be shockingly revealed by a third party.

1UP wrote: »

Example 2: Oh, hey guys: we all grew up together, and the woman we're currently trying to snuff out raised us. I meant to tell you this before, but -- well -- the situation never came up. Sorry. My bad.

Sweet Jebus Retr0, you don't write for them do you?

Retr0gamer · 22-02-2010 3:09am

You won't say that when you get to FFXII because they loved that game :P

I haven't actually read PSM is quite a while but when I did I didn't like it. That was a long time ago though.

noodler · 22-02-2010 1:07pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You won't say that when you get to FFXII because they loved that game :P

I haven't actually read PSM is quite a while but when I did I didn't like it. That was a long time ago though.

Any idea when the reviews are out?

EG, 1UP etc online?

Retr0gamer · 22-02-2010 2:04pm

On Jeremy Parishes blog he said he finished the game for review so unless there's embargos it should be up soon.

Eurogamer are going to absolutely rip into the game. I wouldn't trust their review.

Mr. K · 22-02-2010 3:55pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Eurogamer are going to absolutely rip into the game. I wouldn't trust their review.

What makes you say this? Have their previews been negative? (I quite like Eurogamer at the moment, since they gave the RE5 DLC

9/10

)

Retr0gamer · 22-02-2010 4:02pm

Yep the previews have been pretty negative.

Gummy Panda · 23-02-2010 12:43am

The impressions thread on NeoGAF has some reviews from people who finished the import. The likes of Duckroll can read Japanese.

landsleaving · 23-02-2010 12:58am

From the link above:

This leads to a content problem, there’s very little outside of the main storyline and monster hunting. Previous FF games (excluding FF12) all have extra content for the player to do and at the same time it builds the worlds. The world is so interesting and pretty in FF13 and you want to see more of it but you simply can’t. There aren’t any towns to at least gawk at (even if they serve no function), no twisty little corners to check for things, no interesting residents to get tangled up with and the like. There aren’t even mini-games to dawdle your time with.

Lastly, linear gets a new definition in this game. While I understand why it was a design choice it doesn’t really excuse it especially with how the end product turned out story-wise. I mean freaking hell, give me some towns along the linear path or something, some houses to enter, some buildings to explore. Maybe toss a monster bounty up or something? BLARGH!

That put me off a fair bit I have to say. That and Leona Lewis' involvement. I thought they'd hit a musical nadir in VIII on the Ragnarok.

Retr0gamer · 23-02-2010 1:04am

I get the feeling that people complaining about the games linearity haven't played the game fully through because every source I've read that has says that the game opens up into a massive nonlinear world to explore near the end of the game.